What is and what is not "cancer":
http://listserv.cuny.edu/Scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind0401&L=FERRET-SEARCH
&P=R12970&I=-3
 
>Needless to say, being that her condition came about within 1 day
>of her distemper & rabies shots, we thought there might have been a
>connection.  Was she given too high a dose?  Was she allergic (and if
>so, why hadn't it shown before)?  Was it a symptom of the cancer or an
>unrelated condition?
 
It is pretty well impossible to say at this stage what took her (though
there is a type of allergic response which is rare yet which behaves that
way and is seen in some people who are allergic to general anesthesia),
but why she didn't show the allergy before is easy.
 
With allergies what happens is that at some point during an exposure
part of the immune system becomes confused and decides that the item is
an invader.  The body records that new info.
 
Then the NEXT time that there is an exposure there is a reaction.
 
Allergies are most prone to developing when the immune system is at its
strongest (for instance the highest rate of new allergies in humans is
during the 20s, even though they can start at any age).
 
One simplification that people used to think was that a very active
immune system was always good.  Now, with added knowledge we know more
about autoimmune diseases, diseases in which there is tissue damage
from the immune response itself, cytokine storms (which may be why the
influenza in the 19-teens so preferentially killed off young adults and
children more than others), etc.  Like so much else, moderation is a
good thing.
 
Now, in relation to getting vaccinations: hearing of too many ferrets
with distemper each year (most off-lists since the people usually tend
to have some guilt feelings attached or fear of nasty mails) I believe
in them, ditto for so very reasons which can be found in multiple past
discussions in the FML Archives (whose address is in the header of each
day's FML and is
http://listserv.cuny.edu/Scripts/wa.exe?S1=ferret-search
and in the FHL Archives (addy in my signature because they are so
useful, and Pam Sessoms is the wonderful FHL co-moderator who makes
them available).
 
We never again ourselves use a specific vaccine on a ferret if that
ferret has had a strong reaction to that vaccine.  If a ferret has
reacted to two different types of vaccine we assume that individual
may be allergic to a common component in the matrix and never vaccinate
that individual again though we vaccinate others.  If an individual is
allergic to a common component in a matrix then giving two vaccines at
one time gives more of the allergen and therefore more risk, though
separating vaccines usually is most useful for knowing which vaccine is
the problem one.  Hopefully, at some point in the future the money will
be scraped up to do the work needed to see if these vaccines can be
spaced farther apart which would be great for all, but especially for
the ferrets.  That work is still lacking.
 
See:
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/final/immun/immun.htm
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/exhibitions/lifecycle/105.asp
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/exhibitions/lifecycle/112.asp
http://www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/fs/gen/howvpd.htm
http://www.canadian-health-network.ca/servlet/ContentServer?
 cid=1007411&pagename=CHN-RCS%2FCHNResource%
 2FFAQCHNResourceTemplate&c=CHNResource&lang=En
This is on some aspects of malignancies and the immune system:
http://www.cancerresearch.org/immunology/immuneindex.html
 
-- Sukie (not a vet)
Ferret Health List
http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/ferrethealth
FHL Archives
http://fhl.sonic-weasel.org
International Ferret Congress
http://www.ferretcongress.org
[Posted in FML issue 4962]